In India about 880 species of medicinal plants in active trade estimated at 1,28,000 tonnes of medicinal plant-based raw material is consumed by around 8,300 licensed units manufacturing herbal medicines and products across the country. Of these 80% is sourced from the wild. Plant-based crude drugs exported are estimated worth Rs.463 crores, the major export destinations being the United States, Germany, Japan, UK, France, Taiwan, Italy, Pakistan and Hong Kong. Taking into account the volume of domestic trade and export of plant-based raw material, the annual medicinal plant based trade was worth Rs.850 crores during 2001 with the national herbal sector growing at 30%.

While herbal medicines are produced by several thousand companies in India, most of them are quite small, including numerous neighbourhood pharmacies that compound ingredients to make their own remedies. The industry is however dominated by less than a dozen major companies for decades, joined recently by a few others, so that today there are 30 companies doing more than Rs.5 crore business per year. The products of these companies are included within the broad category of ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’(FMCG) which include herbal medicines for internal consumption, health foods, toiletries etc.

Dabur, Baidyanath and Zandu together have about 85% of India’s domestic market. Some of the major units engaged in herbal drug manufacture are listed below.